A quango or QUANGO is an organisation to which a government has devolved power, but which is still partly controlled and/or financed by government bodies. The term was originally a shortening of "quasi autonomous NGO", where NGO is the acronym for a non-government organization.
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in humanitarianism or the social sciences; they can also include clubs and associations that provide services to their members and others. Surveys indicate that NGOs have a high degree of public trust, which can make them a useful proxy for the concerns of society and stakeholders. However, NGOs can also be lobby groups for corporations, such as the World Economic Forum. NGOs are distinguished from international and intergovernmental organizations (IOs) in that the latter are more directly involved with sovereign states and their governments.
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in contrary with an entity that operates as a business aiming to generate a profit for its owners. A nonprofit is subject to the non-distribution constraint: any revenues that exceed expenses must be committed to the organization's purpose, not taken by private parties. An array of organizations are nonprofit, including some political organizations, schools, business associations, churches, social clubs, and consumer cooperatives. Nonprofit entities may seek approval from governments to be tax-exempt, and some may also qualify to receive tax-deductible contributions, but an entity may incorporate as a nonprofit entity without securing tax-exempt status.
Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere. By other authors, civil society is used in the sense of 1) the aggregate of non-governmental organizations and institutions that advance the interests and will of citizens or 2) individuals and organizations in a society which are independent of the government.
The Rose Revolution or Revolution of Roses was a nonviolent change of power that occurred in Georgia in November 2003. The event was brought about by widespread protests over the disputed parliamentary elections and culminated in the resignation of President Eduard Shevardnadze, which marked the end of the Soviet era leadership in the country. The revolution derives its name from the climactic moment, when demonstrators led by Mikheil Saakashvili stormed the Parliament session with red roses in hand.
An acronym is a word or name consisting of parts of the full name's words. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in NATO, but sometimes use syllables, as in Benelux, NAPOCOR, and TRANSCO. They can also be a mixture, as in radar and MIDAS.
The voluntary sector, independent sector, or civic sector is the realm of social activity undertaken by organizations that are non-governmental nonprofit organizations. This sector is also called the third sector, community sector, and nonprofit sector, in contrast to the public sector and the private sector. Civic sector or social sector are other terms for the sector, emphasizing its relationship to civil society. Richard Cornuelle coined the term "independent sector" and was one of the first scholars to point out the vast impact and unique mechanisms of this sector. Given the diversity of organizations that comprise the sector, Peter Frumkin prefers "non-profit and voluntary sector".
A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners.
A non-state actor (NSA) are organizations and/or individuals that are not affiliated with, directed by, or funded by any government.
A government-organized non-governmental organization (GONGO) is a non-governmental organization that was set up or sponsored by a government in order to further its political interests and mimic the civic groups and civil society at home, or promote its international or geopolitical interests abroad.
An international non-governmental organization (INGO) is an organization which is independent of government involvement and extends the concept of a non-governmental organization (NGO) to an international scope.
Laws regulating nonprofit organizations, nonprofit corporations, non-governmental organizations, and voluntary associations vary in different jurisdictions.
Reformasi is a political movement in Malaysia. It was initiated in September 1998 by Anwar Ibrahim, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, after he was sacked from his position by Malaysia's then-Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad. The movement, which began while the country hosted the Commonwealth Games, initially demanded the resignation of Malaysia's then-Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, and for the end of alleged corruption and cronyism within the Barisan Nasional-led (BN) government. It later became a reformist movement demanding social equality and social justice in Malaysia. The movement consisted of civil disobedience, demonstrations, sit-ins, rioting, occupations and online activism.
ISO 26000:2010 Guidance on social responsibility is an international standard providing guidelines for social responsibility. It was released by the International Organization for Standardization on 1 November 2010 and its goal is to contribute to global sustainable development by encouraging business and other organizations to practice social responsibility to improve their impacts on their workers, their natural environments and their communities.
International or global psychology is an emerging branch of psychology that focuses on the worldwide enterprise of psychology in terms of communication and networking, cross-cultural comparison, scholarship, practice, and pedagogy. Often, the terms international psychology, global psychology, transnational psychology, and cross-cultural psychology are used interchangeably, but their purposes are subtly and importantly different: Global means worldwide, international means across and between nations, transnational means to transcend the nation-state, cross-cultural means across cultures. In contrast, the term “multicultural” is more often used to refer to ethnic and other cultural differences existing within a given nation rather than to global or international comparisons.
The main ethnic minorities in Georgia are Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Ukrainians, Russians, Greeks, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Kists, Assyrians and Yazidi.
Founded in 2004, Keystone Accountability is a not-for-profit organization with locations in United Kingdom, South Africa, United States. Keystone's mission strives to improve the effectiveness of social purpose organizations. Using benchmarking surveys, feedback and analysis, Keystone consults on NGOs, international development agencies, and major foundations to plan, measure and report social change. In 2009, Keystone blended participatory evaluation and customer satisfaction to create a new methodology referred to as Constituent Voice.
Accountable Now is a global platform, founded in 2008 by a group of independent non-profit organisations, which is intended to foster accountability and transparency of civil society organisations (CSOs), as well as stakeholder communication and performance. It supports CSOs to be transparent, responsive to stakeholders and focused on delivering impact.
Rainforest Rescue is a non-governmental environmental organization with head office in Germany which advocates the preservation of rainforests at global level. It is a politically independent organization that defends the inhabitants of the tropical rainforests and their living spaces. The work of the organization consists in launching petitions on its website and collecting donations for concrete projects in the affected tropical areas. The protest actions mainly deal with ecologic and social problems caused by the trade of tropical timber, gold mining, the expansion of industrial-scale monocultures and land conflicts with indigenous populations.
